Summer Camp

Girls Rock n Roll Retreat (GRRR) is now accepting applications for their week-long summer day camps. We have been granted 6 spots on full scholarship. Registration is taken on a first come first served basis - register here: https://sherocksherock.org/g-r-r-r, and mention LJA for your scholarship request.

What is G.R.R.R?Celebrating their eleventh year in 2017, this annual day camp (9am-5pm daily) offers 5 days of music lessons, playing in a band, art classes, exciting workshops and a big Friday night rock concert for students ages 8-16. Our camp is offered to all who play or want to learn electric guitar, electric bass, drums, vocals or keyboards. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!

This camp is open to all students who identify a female, trans, or gender non-conforming

Intersessions and Summer Programming

LJA offers three weeks of intersession programming during the school year. For the 2015-2016 school year our intersessions will take place in October, January and April. The programming offered these weeks varies, but generally focuses on experiential learning and is a lot of fun for our scholars.

Previous Intersessions:

In the fall, University of MN English postbacs (20 teacher candidates) taught Literacy-based courses including,for example, “Keeping up with the Gender Norms,” where students put a critical lens on the media to discover the many ways gender can be represented in our society today; “Voice Explorers”, where students delved into storytelling and spoken word poetry; and “What Makes a Hero” which explored the narratives of modern day comic books and taught students to write their own.

The theme of Winter Intersession was science and nature. We spent two days at LJA getting an introduction to the theme by visiting the Science Museum of Minnesota and hearing from guest presenters back at LJA, and then headed out to Audubon Center of the North Woods for Wednesday-Friday of the week. This annual overnight trip is a great way for students to experience nature and try out activities such as climbing on a high ropes course and interacting with animals outside.

The theme for Spring Intersession was All About Food! The week was focused on learning about food from historical, agricultural, social justice, and service-learning perspectives. Each morning was spent at LJA with presentations and activities, such as a cheese-making experience, a honeybee presentation, and a sandwich assembly service project. Each afternoon we embarked on a field trip, including the Mill City Museum, the Minnesota History Center, Second Harvest Heartland, and Dodge Nature Center.

For more information, contact Ms. Cassandra at cassandraq@laurajeffreyacademy.org or 651-414-6000.

LJA Pay It Forward Tours

LJA partners with "Students Today Leaders Forever" to offer a Pay It Forward Tour to our students each year.

What is the Pay It Forward tour?

The “PIF” tour is a 3-day, 2-night community-service road trip. We travel on a comfortable coach bus to two different cities and do several different volunteer projects along the way. Students also take part in evening reflection and leadership activities to learn more about the issue we worked with that day, and how to come back together to take action and make a difference in our own community. The tour is organized by “Students Today, Leaders Forever” and led by a group of dynamic college students from around the Midwest.

The annual trip takes place during one of our intersession breaks and registration is open to LJA’s 6th, 7th and 8th grade students. Lodging is typically in community centers or church basements. Students will need to bring a pillow and sleeping bag/blankets. Middle school tours stay within a 300 mile radius of the Twin Cities. Previous trips have included overnight stays in the following cities:

La Crosse, WI

Madison, WI

Mason City, IA

Iowa, IA

Mankato, MN

Sioux Falls, SD

The cost of the trip is $185. This includes meals, transportation, lodging and a t-shirt. Some financial assistance is available and the amount awarded will depend on the total raised through fundraising as well as the number of students that request financial assistance. Students will be expected to contribute a minimum of $50 in order to go on this trip.

Contact Ms. Dawn at dawna@laurajeffreyacademy.org or 651-414-6000 for more information.

The core purpose of the KAYSC is to empower youth to change our world through science! The KAYSC engages youth in grades 6-8 at Laura Jeffrey Academy for out-of-school-time (OST) science programming afterschool at LJA, on Saturdays at the Science Museum of Minnesota, and for 6 weeks during the summer at a partner site. Programs target students from communities underrepresented in STEM disciplines: 75% of participants are from low-income families 60% are girls 90% are youth of color. Middle school youth start as service-learning volunteers in 7th grade and can progress to paid positions during high school, and as alumni interns after graduation from high school. Youth work in theme-based "teams," and build competencies in youth leadership, career development, and science literacy that they in turn share with their communities. Youth on KAYSC teams develop community service-learning projects and lead hands-on STEM workshops/outreaches for younger youth (pre-K through 6 grades) in their communities. Since its inception, the KAYSC has engaged over 1000 participants. Last year alone, the KAYSC reached over 50,000 museum visitors and 5,000 children on outreaches in over 25 different community sites.